Darling
by diceandpokerchips
Summary: Companion piece to Inception: The Fischer Job. Strongly recommend you read that first. Five oneshots from Eames' point of view on his life with Arthur.
1. First Impressions

**Here's the first chapter of the companion piece to Inception: The Fischer Job ... if you're new to my Fanfictions, I recommend you read that first, as this is just meant to fill in any gaps I left.**

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How Eames Met Arthur

"Eames speaking." I answered my phone briskly. Only a few people had this phone number and those that did were people I had no reason to avoid.

"It's Cobb. I have a job if you're interested?"

His job offer could not have come at a better time. Amsterdam had turned out to be pretty expensive, in the fact that I owed some pretty powerful people quite a lot of money. I needed to acquire some money quickly, and here was the perfect opportunity.

"What is it?" I might need the money, but I wasn't going to agree to anything before I knew what was expected.

"Simple enough extraction."

I laughed. "I thought Mal didn't let you perform illegal jobs?"

I could hear the smile in his tone as he replied. "She's as curious as I am."

"And you need a forger?" I replied, my interest sufficiently piqued. "Alright. What's the team?"

"Just us and Arthur."

I had heard lots about the mysterious Arthur, who had been unavailable for the last job I had taken with Cobb. He was apparently the best point man in the business. It was this small fact that pushed me into taking the job.

"Alright. Where?" I agreed, readily.

"Mombasa. Same place as last time. Arthur's booking you a flight now. It leaves in four hours, can you make it?"

I didn't ask how he knew where I was, I had heard all about Arthur's talents, from more than one person. If there was anything to find out about a potential colleague, he would find it. The thought bothered me; I'd taken pains to ensure that my name and background was untraceable, the fact that a complete stranger could potentially find out everything I'd deliberately hidden unnerved me.

"I'll be there." I promised, before hanging up.

The flight was uncomfortable; I hated flying. The ten hour flight was almost unbearable, as I didn't have anything to read. I'd had no time to do little more than grab the bag I always kept back for situations like these, before having to rush to the airport. I couldn't sleep on planes either, so it was a case of twiddling my thumbs for ten hours. Eventually, I landed in Mombasa, and took a taxi to the warehouse. I made him pull over a few streets away. My military experience was responsible for my security measures, but they were necessary.

I strode into the warehouse, actually looking forward to seeing Dominick Cobb again. I had worked with him on a previous job, during a time his partner hadn't been available. He was a fantastic extractor and knew his trade well. This time, his partner was with him, and I was looking forward to meeting the infamous Arthur who was well known as the best point man in the business.

Smoothing down my Hawaiian shirt, which was entirely too flamboyant for Mombasa, I glanced around the warehouse. I spotted Cobb talking to his wife in the far corner. I smiled, now knowing that our architect was thoroughly capable. Cobb was also excellent at designing the levels, but Mal surpassed him to the extreme. I turned to examine the rest of the warehouse, and spotted only one more person. I stopped in my tracks. He was _gorgeous_. I was entirely stunned. Instantly I knew that I had to have this man, if only to retain my sanity. I changed course from Dom and headed over to the handsome point man.

He clearly heard me approaching, because he looked up and met my gaze, his expression only mildly interested. He glanced down at my shirt, and a grimace passed over his face fleetingly. Noting his expensive suit, I understood that he was a man who took pride in matching his clothes and being organised and pristine. People like that were normally difficult to provoke, which took all the fun out of being a constant pain.

I winked, hoping to stir some sort of reaction. To my delight, he blushed slightly, although he hid it very well. If I hadn't been looking for it, I would never have been able to spot his embarrassment.

"You must be Arthur. How about we get to know each other better? I'm Eames." I said smoothly, perching on the end of his desk.

"In your dreams, Mr Eames." He replied, his tone bored. I repressed a shudder. His voice was delectable, so deep yet soft.

"I look forward to the job then." I grinned. Arthur frowned, spotting his mistake, and went back to his laptop. I reached over to grab it and take a look at what he was working on. Instantly, I found my wrist in an iron grip and a gun pointed between my eyes.

"What the…" I exclaimed, frowning.

"Do _not_ touch my laptop. Ever." Arthur ordered. Reacting quickly, I disarmed him; flicking the safety back on his gun and handing it back to him. It was clear he was impressed with my speed and skill, and the feeling was mutual. His grip relaxed on my arm, and I withdrew from his grasp.

"I'm sorry." I apologised, sincerely. "I didn't realise."

Begrudgingly, Arthur seemed to accept my apology and his hand stretched outwards for the second time, only this time it was for me to shake. I grasped it warmly, noting his smooth skin with surprise.

"Pleasure to meet you. I hope this won't affect our working relationship?" Arthur said, coolly. I grinned at him, reassuring him that unless he actually shot me, no offence would be taken.

"I can't make any promises there." He said, casually, but I spotted the slight twitch of his lips. Looking down, I was surprised to see I still had Arthur's hand in mine. I let go, nonchalantly, and looked at the point man appraisingly, eager to acquire some information other than the fact that he was the most handsome man I'd ever met. He was slightly younger than me, I realised. His posture betrayed his military experience, as did his proclivity for neatness, I noted, spotting his gelled hair.

"Most likely introduced to dreamsharing during his time in the army." I thought. "That's probably where he met Cobb."

Arthur stared at me, unflinching, and it was clear he knew I was sizing him up.

"Do I pass?" He asked drily.

"You'll do, darling." I grinned, cheerily. His face soured at the endearment that had slipped out, but before he could reply, he was interrupted by Mal calling my name across the warehouse, her delight evident in her tone. Our conversation must have attracted her attention. I turned to greet her enthusiastically, bowing and placing a kiss to her hand in a sweeping gesture. Cobb shook my hand warmly, and introduced me to Arthur.

"Eames, this is Arthur. Arthur, Eames."

"So I've heard." Arthur stated wryly, still staring at me. His gaze was slightly unnerving, his brown eyes so deep it was like they could drown me. It was a peculiar feeling.

In our business, it was difficult to find people to trust. There was no one I fully trusted to have my back, a fact that I'd learnt from a tragically early age. In return, I became untrustworthy myself. I would sell anyone out for a reasonable price, I was unreliable, turning up when I felt like it, and usually only for people I liked. It came with the job description. I was a thief and a forger. A conman by trade, and so I conned everyone, never letting anyone get close to the real me. Even Cobb didn't fully trust me, and that was the way I liked it.

Forcing my eyes to meet Arthur's, it was unquestionably bizarre. My attraction to the man aside, I had finally met someone that I would never let down. One brief meeting with the man was enough for me to know that I would never betray him, and wouldn't even dream of doing anything to hurt him. My thoughts passed in a few seconds, and as Arthur nodded at me and turned back to Cobb, I saw something exchange between us.

It was clear he wasn't overly fond of me. But in that one glance, I could see that he recognised and acknowledged that, as far as he was concerned, I was trustworthy. In return, I could also sense that I trusted him, unconditionally, even though I'd just met him. The thought annoyed me, furiously, as did the knowledge that I would never want another as much as I desired the man in front of me, a man who obviously wanted very little to do with me.

"So where do we start then?" I rubbed my hands together as if I was ready to get to work. In actuality, I wanted a reprieve from Arthur's cool, calculating gaze yet also wanting to gather my thoughts. My reaction to him was entirely unwarranted. To my dismay, I was set to spend a little more time with him.

"Arthur can show you everything he found out about the mark to start with. We'll take it from there." Cobb informed me. I had to reason to object to the arrangement, so I faked a smile.

"Excellent." My occupation as a forger meant my acting skills were almost unparalleled, but the momentary surprise that appeared in Arthur's eyes indicated that he had seen straight through my charade. It was gone in an instant, concealed behind a poker face I just _knew_ was his regular expression.

I felt quite bad that Arthur had sensed my discomfort, particularly when he'd done nothing wrong, so I quashed my desire and unease, and offered the point man my most dazzling, genuine smile. So maybe I was attracted to him, the chances were that I would never see with him again after this job was through, so I would just make the most of the time I had in order to make an impression, and hope that he wouldn't blacklist me from working with him again.

I settled down on the chair that Cobb had wheeled over for me, sitting deliberately much too close to Arthur to be social acceptable. He turned to glare at me immediately.

"What are you doing?" He asked, through gritted teeth.

"Just making sure I'm close enough to hear every word, darling." I grinned, knowing I was pushing his buttons.

His face soured again, and he scowled, but chose not to address my familiarity.

"The subject's name is Martin Hughes." He read from his notebook. "The plan is to find out who he intends to hand over his company to upon his retirement later this year. Now, nobody else knows who Hughes intends to pick, but the research has shown he has been trying to get one of his secretaries, a Samantha James into bed for months. If you can sustain a realistic forgery of her…"

"You want me to show interest in him in order to get the information out of him." I grasped the plan quickly. "I assume you have a photograph?"

Wordlessly, he handed over a photograph of an attractive blonde. She was absolutely stunning; I could understand why the man wanted to bed her. Too stunning to be a mere secretary. I voiced this to Arthur, and to my surprise he chuckled.

"I agree. I said the same thing to Cobb. Think you can pull it off?"

I grinned. "Well enough to fool her own mother."

A sceptical raise of his eyebrow was the only response Arthur gave me.

"You've been set up as a temporary secretary in Hughes' office, starting two days from now. It gives you a chance to study James' mannerisms and the way she interacts with her boss. We also need you to find our opportunity; as his secretary, you'll have access to his diary. We shouldn't need more than an hour."

I nodded, understanding what I needed to do.

"I think we're more or less done for today. Tomorrow Mal can teach you the layout, and Cobb will run through the plan. Do you want a ride back to the hotel?"

I grinned at him. "Very kind of you."

The car ride was silent, but not uncomfortable. With Cobb or Mal I could probably have struck up a conversation. As it was, I barely knew Arthur, so I couldn't find anything to say. Yet it wasn't remotely awkward. We sat in companionable silence.

We pulled up at what looked like a rather rundown hotel, and he gestured for me to follow him into the hotel. I did, marvelling at my mistake. The outside may have looked decrepit, but inside it was clean and had a very homely feel. He took me up to the third floor, and opened a door, handed me the key.

"This is yours. I'm to the left, and Cobb and Mal are to the right."

I stepped in, gingerly, looking round. It was a pleasant room; light and airy. I nodded my approval, and slid my bag under the bed, not unpacking.

"Aren't you unpacking?" Arthur frowned. I turned to see he hadn't moved from the doorway.

"Er, no, darling. Probably best I don't. Owe a lot of money you see, hoping this job will pay off my debts. Need to be able to move quickly if they find me here. But don't worry; I'll stick around to finish the job should that happen."

A faint trace of amusement ghosted over Arthur's face.

"Security conscious, huh? Well it might interest you to know that Cobb didn't have the number of the phone he rang you from. I traced it."

I wasn't sure what expression I had on my face at his revelation, but Arthur clearly derived some amusement from it. I was always so careful about security, a trait I had picked up from my military experience; how could I neglect something as obvious as a phone trace.

"I…" I floundered, not knowing what to say. "How?"

My question wasn't aimed at how he'd traced my number; it was how to stop it from happening again. Arthur seemed to realise this.

"It's an expensive solution, but destroy and obtain a new one regularly. I rarely keep mine more than a few days."

I nodded my understanding. Extractions paid extremely well, so I should still be quite well-off once I had paid my debts in Amsterdam. A new phone every few days was probably beneficial.

"How would I contact any of you if I needed you?" I asked. "Or vice versa, how could you contact me?"

Arthur smiled. "I'll still be able to trace it, but I doubt anyone else will. And if need me, send a blank e-mail. You have the address. Anyway, I'll leave you to get settled."

He turned to leave and I reacted instantly.

"Do you want to go for a drink?" I blurted out. He stopped and turned back, his surprise evident, but he didn't speak. I inwardly cursed. Why did this seem like such a big deal? I'd been for a few drinks with most of the people I'd worked with, gave me a chance to know their strengths and what sort of jobs I would need them for. But I wasn't fooling anyone. I'd asked Arthur for a drink with the intention of getting to know him as a person, as a friend. He'd made an impression.

He studied me appraisingly, clearly searching for my motives. I felt myself bared underneath his gaze. I stood, unflinching, waiting for his decision. Either way, it was no big deal, I told myself, either we would end up friends or we wouldn't.

"Alright." He agreed. I blinked.

"Excellent. I think I saw that the hotel has a bar. Shall we?" I covered my surprise smoothly.

We headed down, and I bought Arthur a drink, waving off his objections with the excuse that it was my idea, and if it bothered him that much he could buy the next one. Once we were seated, I saw Arthur was staring at me.

"Something on my face, darling?" I teased. He flushed.

"No. I'm just trying to understand you. You didn't seem less than happy to be working with me earlier, and now you're asking me for a drink. You're no bipolar are you?"

"Didn't you find out that when you researched me?" I grinned, as Arthur looked taken aback. "No one works with anyone in this business without researching them first."

"So what did _you_ find out about me?" He asked. I leaned back, unprepared for this question.

"Nothing." I admitted. "It was like you never existed. Anything I think I might know about you is an opinion I've formed since I first saw you."

Arthur opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, Cobb and Mal walked past. Mal spotted us and looked shocked, immediately drawing her husband's attention to us. Cobb looked equally surprised. Arthur turned and greeted them, motioning for them to come and join us. They came over, but didn't sit.

"We're going out for dinner at that restaurant around the corner." Cobb explained. "You're welcome to join us."

Arthur declined, and I followed suit, not wanting to invade on the couple's privacy. They left to get changed, and Arthur stood up and got us another drink.

The conversation was easy, not requiring any effort to keep it going. Arthur never explained exactly how he'd erased every trace of his existence, and I didn't bring it up again. It was clear that he was as security conscious as I was. But he did share details of his experience with dreamsharing. I had been right; he had encountered dreamsharing in the army. As the drinks flowed, so did the conversation, and it moved onto our personal lives. It was a risky topic of conversation; nobody tended to share details of their life outside of dreamsharing. It could be used against you in so many ways. Reminding Arthur of this, he shrugged.

"Are you going to tell anyone?" He asked, pointedly. I shook my head. "Then there's no problem."

I opened my mouth to argue, but stopped at his look. Then I realised he was showing me how much he trusted me. Nothing he was telling me was important, but the fact that he was sharing anything at all about his life was evidence of the shared trust that had sprung up between us. In the same way he knew that everything he told me would go no further, I knew that anything I shared would stay between us.

Arthur glanced at his watch and choked. "Eames, it's almost two in the morning."

I glanced down at my own watch, not quite believing him. It took me a few minutes to focus, due to the amount of alcohol I'd imbibed.

"So it is." I frowned. "We should head to bed. Early start and all that."

We headed up to our respective rooms, both of us slightly drunker than we were willing to admit. It took Arthur three tries to press the button for the right floor in the life, and I dropped my room key twice. Eventually, we managed to open our respective doors.

"Well, goodnight darling, I'll see you in the morning." I slurred, cheerfully.

"Yeah." Arthur paused. "You know, Mr Eames, you're not as bad as I've heard."

I laughed loudly, and covered my mouth as Arthur shushed me. It was pretty late.

"I'll take that as a compliment, backhanded though it was." I chuckled. "You're not so bad yourself. Less …" I gestured wildly, searching for the word. "Uptight than I first thought."

Chuckling at the look of indignation of Arthur's face, I stepped into my room. "Goodnight, darling."

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I didn't get a chance to interact with Arthur alone after that. The next day was spent running through the plan and the architecture for the dream, and then after that I was undercover in Hughes' office, studying the mark and his secretary. Once I'd perfected the forgery, and found our opportunity, we were set to go. It was a stroke of luck for us, as the mark's wife had found lipstick on his collar and thrown him out. I was packing up to leave the office when Hughes had burst in with an overnight back.

"Out." He barked at me, and I hurriedly left the building, immediately calling Cobb. They had arrived within minutes, and the job hadn't taken more than half an hour. It didn't take long at all to entice the location out of the mark, and even less time for Cobb to extract it while I kept Hughes distracted. Upon completion, we'd collected our payment and gone straight to the airport.

"Where are you heading?" I queried, conversationally.

"Home." Cobb replied, his arm around Mal who was smiling up at him lovingly. I couldn't help but smile at their obvious devotion to each other. They were both lovely people and deserved to be happy. With one last wave, they headed off to buy their tickets. They both lived in Los Angeles, as did Arthur, so they would have a long flight ahead.

"And you?" I directed at Arthur.

"Venice." He stated quietly. "It's a peaceful area and there'll be a few jobs. Where are you heading out to?"

"Back to Amsterdam to pay a few debts. Then who knows." I grinned. "I rarely stay in one place for long. I've never been to Italy though. Maybe I'll see you around."

Arthur smiled back. "Maybe you will." He offered his hand, and I shook it warmly before he walked away.

"Take care, Mr Eames." He called back over his shoulder. I grinned in reply, and headed to buy a ticket to Amsterdam. I could tell Arthur was going to feature prominently in my future. This was only the beginning.

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**So what did you think? Reviews are all ver****y much appreciated; I love hearing what you all think. Next chapter should be up soon.**


	2. Loss

**The second chapter, set approximately three years after the first. A few of you wanted to hear about the job when Arthur had picked up the red die as his totem, so here it is.**

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When Arthur acquired his totem from Eames

My seventh job with Arthur was the first time everything turned into chaos.

"Same again, please." I waved at the barman, before checking my phone for what had to be the fortieth time in an hour. Arthur had called earlier that day and said he had a job, and he'd be in touch by the end of the day.

"The end of whose day?" I thought irritably. It was the early hours of the morning in Vienna, where I was, and he was in Berlin, just over an hour's flight away, and on the same time zone. To be honest, Arthur was probably still hard at work and would call when he was finished. So I could potentially be here for a long time yet. I paid for my beer and took a long draught. I'd worked with Arthur enough times to know that he was thorough, and diligence took time and dedication. It was best I make myself comfortable, because I was probably in for a long wait. Giving up on subtly checking my phone, I placed it on the bar in front of me, so I didn't miss the call.

I was actually looking forward to seeing Arthur again, during our last few jobs we'd struck up a friendship, one I acknowledged proudly. Going a step further than most colleagues, we communicated outside of jobs, choosing to call each other once a week. Usually, they were just five or ten minute conversations about the job we were currently on, or, when we were between jobs, films we'd seen that the other might like. Recently however, the duration of our calls had increased to around an hour, both of us just talking about anything and everything. There were never any awkward silences and there was always something to say. Even whilst on his last job, I hadn't expected to hear from Arthur but he'd made time to call me, though he refused to admit he would have missed it.

I still had a strong attraction to the man, but I'd buried it, unwilling the risk the friendship I had with him, knowing he didn't return my feelings. I didn't doubt that I could seduce the man, but if there was ever anything between Arthur and myself, then I wanted it to be something long term, something serious. And as that wasn't likely to occur, then I would take what I could get.

My phone rang, breaking into my thoughts. _Eventually_!I answered it, quickly.

"Eames speaking." I said, trying not to sound too eager.

"Turn around." I spun round to find Arthur leaning casually against the doorway of the bar. I felt a grin spread across my face; an involuntary reaction to the point man's presence.

"Arthur!" I exclaimed, standing to greet him. I hung up and pocketed my phone as he walked over, and I took note of his appearance. His hair was immaculate, as was his suit, as usual. However, there were bags under his eyes, which weren't normally present.

"You haven't been sleeping." I accused. He inclined his head at my words.

"Haven't had a chance. Cobb's been desperate to try new things, pushing the boundaries…" He stopped, surreptitiously glancing around the pub. "Not here. Come on, I've got us a flight booked."

I picked up my beer and paused, offering it to Arthur. Amused, he took the glass and drank, wiping his mouth with a handkerchief as he handed the drink back. I shook my head, unable to believe how he could drink a _pint_ and still look graceful and poised. Downing the rest of the glass, I picked up my bag and followed him out of the door.

"Why are you here?" I asked, as we walked away from the hotel, towards the airport. He bit his lip, mischievously.

"I've never been to Vienna." He admitted. "I called Cobb and told him your phone was unreachable so I would come and get you."

"Nothing to do with the fact that you were simply dying to see me, darling?" I raised an eyebrow. Arthur grinned good-naturedly.

"That too." He said, and my jaw dropped in surprise. He laughed at my shock and shook his head.

"Well, if we're confessing our deepest, darkest secrets, darling, then you should know that I have an absolutely _huge_…" Arthur glared at me, and I broke off, laughing. "I'm _joking_, Arthur. Well, not about having a huge… anyway, kidding aside. I'm very glad to see you too."

The point man blushed at my words, and smiled at me, his brown eyes soft. I felt butterflies in my chest and struggled to overcome the desire to kiss him. I managed to suppress my longing and returned Arthur's smile briefly.

"Should I ask how you found me, or is it pointless?" I asked, lightly. Asking Arthur to explain his ability to trace anyone often ended up with the point man snapping at me. This time, he was much more forthcoming.

"It was simple really." He shrugged. "You knew I was calling, so you'd be within walking distance from the airport. That you'd be in a bar was an obvious conclusion to jump to, so I just looked for a hotel near the airport that had a decent bar. There were three choices, and this one served English beer so I came here first."

"Very clever. I shall have to try harder to evade your skill. It wouldn't do at all to make things easy for you." I teased. He laughed.

Arriving at the airport, we headed to a private hangar. Arthur had arranged a flight for us. In our business, it was often necessary, as both Arthur and I carried weapons. I hadn't actually seen Arthur's gun, but considering his proclivity for security, it was a reasonable deduction. I pictured him as the Glock type, whereas I preferred my Heckler and Koch P2000. I was unwilling to relinquish the gun from my possession for long periods of time, so I preferred taking private transport when it was available.

Boarding the plane, I sat down, dropping my bag at my feet. Arthur took the seat opposite me. He paused, before undoing his jacket. He pulled a magazine out of his inside pocket and tossed it to me.

"Here. I know you get bored on flights." He said simply, as he hung his jacket on the back of his seat. Spotting that he had nothing for himself, I slid the magazine to one side.

"Thank you, darling, but I'm sure your enthralling conversation will suffice. Did you get a chance to watch any TV this week? There was a Hitchcock special on Thursday that I'm sure you would have hated."

Arthur sneered. "No. I don't understand how that man can be called a director. His films are the worst I've ever seen."

"You can't judge that from two films." I argued. "Psycho is a masterpiece."

The friendly argument flowed, and before I knew it, the stewardess announced that we had landed in Berlin. I blinked.

"That was fast." I laughed. "How time does fly when you have excellent company."

Arthur smirked, but didn't respond, slipping his jacket back on. I grabbed my bag and we headed for the main road.

Spotting a taxi, Arthur stepped forward, smoothly flagging it down. We climbed in and he gave the address, his German flawless.

"Amerikaner?" The driver asked, seemingly trying to make conversation.

"Nein." I spoke up. "Englisch. Er ist Amerikaner." I gestured to Arthur. Arthur stared at me.

"I didn't know you spoke German?" He asked.

"Ja." I nodded, then grinned. "Only a few phrases. I haven't needed to speak it since I was at school."

He nodded. The drive was short, and Arthur paid, as I stepped out to examine our surroundings. Another hotel. Apparently Arthur didn't intend to make me start immediately, giving me time to sleep first. We went through the usual routine of Arthur handing me my room key, and saying goodnight. Suddenly tired, I stripped and slid into bed, unconscious before my head hit the pillow.

The next morning, I was awakened by a knock at the door. Glancing at my watch, I saw it was only 8am. Normally unopposed to early mornings, I was particularly tired after my late flight. There was another knock.

"Coming." I groaned, knowing it was Arthur. It would only be one of the team at this hour, and the knock was too brisk to be Cobb. Wrenching open the door, I glared at the point man.

"Is it too much to ask for eight hours sleep, Arthur? I'm not a machine."

The point man was openly staring at me, a flush spreading over his face. Bewildered by his obvious embarrassment, I looked down. Ah. In my haste to open the door, I'd neglected to dress, and was standing there, naked as the day I was born. My mouth fell open and I looked up to meet Arthur's eyes, grinning feebly.

"I don't suppose you'd believe me if I said this was actually unintentional?" I tried to explain, as I diving for the covers. From the safety of my bed I managed to grab some clothing from my bag and, wrapping a sheet firmly around my waist, disappeared into the bathroom.

"I'm going to take a shower, darling, make yourself comfortable, and I'll see you when I get out."

The hot shower did very little to wash away my embarrassment. After I finished washing, I spent another thirty seconds under the warm spray, plucking up the courage to face the man I had basically just exposed myself to. The man that I desired more than anyone I'd ever met. I took a deep breath and switched off the spray. I had to face him sooner or later. I towelled myself dry quickly, pulling on the clothes I'd grabbed. Considering I'd just grabbed the first thing I'd laid my hands on, they weren't too bad. They matched, and wouldn't offend Arthur's eyes too much. As much as I loved shocking the point man, I suspected I'd already exceeded my limit for the day.

I opened the door, adopting my smooth personality and keeping my expression neutral.

"Now, darling, you wanted something?" I directed at the point man, who hadn't moved from my doorway. "Feel free to sit down."

Arthur sat down on my bed automatically. "Cobb." He said.

"You've lost me, darling. I'm Eames, remember?" I said airily.

Arthur frowned. "No. Cobb pulled out this morning. Something happened with Mal, she's… apparently not herself. He doesn't think he can leave her."

"So the job's off?" I asked, unable to understand why he was dancing around the subject. If we had no extractor, we couldn't perform an extraction.

"That's the point. We can call in another extractor, but I'd rather not work with someone new. Or…" He hesitated. I was completely at sea, unable to see another option. Particularly one that Arthur was reluctant to discuss with me.

"Or?" I pressed.

"Or you could do it." He finished quietly. I laughed, expecting him to laugh along with me. When he didn't, my jaw dropped incredulously.

"You're serious? Darling, I'm a forger not an extractor. I'm not qualified…"

"But you can do it." Arthur interrupted. "I've seen you. It's not ideal; your technique is sloppy, but it works. You managed fine on the Evans job."

"Because our extractor got ripped apart by the projections." I argued. "I don't have enough experience."

Arthur didn't reply, just looked at me. I knew what his expression was conveying. I could take over the role of extractor, or we could leave now, back out of the job. I knew Arthur's distaste for leaving jobs unfinished, but I had a really bad feeling about this.

"Fine." I relented. "But if Cobb can't come here, I want him available for brainstorming. Who's the architect?"

"Jasper."

I nodded my approval. I enjoyed working with Jasper. He was efficient, capable. Aside from Mal and Cobb, he was the best in the business. Arthur had experience in dream architecture, but was too paranoid to allow anyone else to run point, and it was too much for him to do both, so we had to call in Jasper regularly when Mal wasn't available. He was a young boy, the wrong side of twenty for such a dangerous occupation. But the subject was a dangerous man, and this extraction was one of the riskiest we'd performed. We needed the best we could get.

I had to admit, I did enjoy the brief change in occupation. Cobb had agreed to participate in a video call with us so we could run through potential ideas for the extraction. All of them had been dismissed by Arthur; the man had uncovered that the subject had previous experience in dreamsharing, if we messed up even slightly, if the mark had the smallest suspicion he was dreaming, the job would fall through.

"It's not you doing the extraction." I interrupted finally, my head starting to ache with the constant flow of rejected ideas. "What works for you, won't work for me. I don't have your ability to sell. I _forge_. I need something that will combine what I'm good at with the ability to _ex_tract rather than _di_stract."

Cobb and Arthur fell silent for a moment. Jasper shrugged at me, and carried on drawing his blueprints. The man was thorough.

"I got it." Cobb said at last. "You forge his son. We already know his son has a lot of gambling debts."

"Ahh." I sat up sharply, comprehension dawning. "Excellent, thank you. We'll get started immediately."

Arthur thanked Cobb and ended the video call, but I was already tuning the finer points of the plan in my mind. "Okay." I said, calling their attention. "Here's what we do…"

"Dad, please." I begged. "They're going to kill me, they said I had to find out how the new casino security system works and tell them. Help me."

The subject, John Chester, was sitting at his desk, eyeing me suspiciously. When I mentioned the security camera, his eyes flickered the wall on the left. So that's where it was. Cobb was right, it worked. If I'd timed it right, Arthur's cue was in a few moments. Sure enough, a disturbance outside drew the subject's attention.

"Stay here." He snapped, rushing out of the door to find out what was happening on his casino floor. Instantly, I moved over to the wall, ripping the picture away to find a safe concealed behind it. It took me less than a minute to open it, and read the information on it, when a yell brought my attention back to my surroundings.

"Eames!"

Recognising the tone, I felt dread flood through me. Arthur. Glancing in the mirror, I reverted to my normal form, and pulled out my gun, moving quickly towards the direction the yell had come from. Entering onto the casino floor, I saw two bodies lying on the floor, both the mark's and Arthur's.

"Shit!" I swore, and raised the gun to my head.

I awoke to agony, ripping through my side. My vision blurred with the pain. I'd been shot. Moving my hand to my side gingerly, I brushed my finger over the skin. A flesh wound. The realisation helped me to focus and my eyes cleared to see Arthur wrestling with Chester, both trying to reach a gun on the floor.

"Arthur." I croaked, trying to distract the mark so Arthur could gain the advantage. It worked. Chester's head snapped round to see who had spoken, and Arthur reached for the weapon, shooting him calmly in the kneecap.

"How could you miss from there?" I gasped, as the mark rolled over, clutching his shattered knee, groaning. Arthur stood up swiftly.

"I didn't miss." He said calmly, firing the gun again into the Chester's other knee. A bullet to the stomach followed and had him screaming in torment. My side burned, but I sat up, ignoring the ache, unable to understand why Arthur had developed such a vindictive streak. Arthur aimed the gun at the mark's head.

"Those were from Eames. This is for Jasper." He said, and fired, killing the mark instantly. I didn't watch the bullet meet its target, but I heard the sound of it whizzing through the air, and the unmistakeable noise of it embedding in Chester's head. I didn't see any of it, because I was staring at our architect.

"No." I whispered, unable to believe my eyes. He was only a kid, he had so much potential, so much he could do with his life. It wasn't fair for us to come out of this basically unscathed, and for him to be dead.

"Eames, we have to get you back to the hotel. There's a first aid kit there." Arthur said, his tone gentle.

"No." I croaked, standing up and ripping the IV from my arm. My side burned furiously, but I ignored it, stumbling towards the body of the boy who had once been my friend. He looked like he was sleeping, with the exception of the bullet wound I his chest. "He's our friend, Arthur. We can't leave him. He has to come with us."

"Eames, I can't carry both of you." Arthur's throat was hoarse. He placed a hand gently on my back and my shoulder's sagged.

"I can walk." I objected, trying to stand, but the pain was quickly becoming unbearable. I knew it was only a flesh wound, but it was still excruciating. "You carry Jasper."

"I can't take him back to the hotel with us, Eames. I've got to get you and the PASIV out of here and I need to clean that wound before it gets infected. We need to go. I promise you I'll have someone come and make sure he's taken care of, but right now, you're my priority, okay?" I felt one hand loop around my back and the other behind my knees, as he picked me up easily, as if I weighed no more than a boy. The thought reminded me of the boy on the floor in front of us.

"No, we need to take care of Jasper." I struggled in his arms, but he just clutched me tighter to him. I felt my phone fall out of my pocket, but Arthur left it, carrying me to the car.

"My phone." I mumbled, but Arthur shushed me.

"I'll get it, I promise. Stay here and I'll grab it when I got back for the PASIV." He lay me in the back seat of the car and disappeared. He was back in a moment, slipping into the driver seat, his phone in his hand.

"The job fucked up." He snapped into the phone as he sped towards our hotel. "Our architect was killed. No, we're fine. A flesh wound, but nothing I can't handle. No, I took care of that. I want you to collect Jasper, make sure he gets flown home to his parents. Belarus, I'll send you the address when I get a chance. Make sure his parents are told he was wounded in action. Yes. Okay."

He hung up and stopped the car.

"Eames, I need you to do me a favour. We need to get into the hotel room without anyone noticing the blood? I can give you my jacket to cover the blood, but you're going to need to act like you're drunk to disguise your stumbling, okay?"

"Sure." I mumbled, feeling pretty out of things now. My head was swimming with the pain and the loss of a friend. Death didn't bother me. I'd seen my fair share of friends and comrades falling in battle, it came with the job when I was in the army. But it wasn't often I'd seen someone so young, who died without even knowing they were in danger. I didn't remember getting to the hotel room, just a vague impression of Arthur's arm wound securely under my arms, holding me upright. Only the sting of the rubbing alcohol Arthur was applying to my side brought me back to reality. I hissed at the pain.

"You're back." Arthur said. It wasn't a question. He pulled a bandage out of the first aid kit lying next to me. "Sit up, please."

I reacted automatically, sitting upright and allowing Arthur to wind the bandage around my torso. When he was finished, he sat back and looked at me, not speaking. I knew he was waiting for my questions, and I was grateful he was giving me time to summon the courage to ask.

"What happened?" I asked eventually.

"The projections found me, they were cornering me and about to shoot when John Chester came rushing in. He saw what was happening instantly and shot himself awake. I managed to shout out a warning to you before I shot myself. When I woke up, he'd already shot Jasper." His voice broke as he uttered the name of our fallen comrade, but he cleared his throat and continued. "He was pointing the gun at you. I tackled him and he missed, but it still grazed you. You saw the rest."

I nodded. I hadn't been able to look at Arthur once since I'd seen Jasper's body. It was like I was subconsciously blaming the point man for his death, something that was both unfair and unwarranted. I'd never had a reason to doubt Arthur and I never would, but I couldn't face the sorrow I knew would be in his eyes. I was unsettled enough already. Arthur stood and walked over to the mini bar, pulling out two whiskey miniatures. He grabbed two glasses from the tray, and poured a drink for each of us.

"Here." He handed me a glass. I took it, gratefully, but my hands were shaking too badly to hold it. I put it on the table next to me.

"You're going into shock." Arthur surmised. I shook my head.

"I'm not." It was true. "I'm just upset."

He nodded and I knew he was staring at me. I glanced up and met his eyes, and it was my undoing.

"Why him, Arthur? Why not me?" I choked, feeling a tear slide down my face. The point man moved onto the bed next to me. Tearing my eyes away to stare at my knees, ashamed of my emotions, I tensed when I felt the point man touch me, winding his arm around my shoulder. He was hugging me, I realised. Turning my eyes to Arthur's, I saw unshed tears were in his eyes and I broke down, wrapping my arms around him, sobbing into his shoulders.

"It'll be alright, Eames." Arthur croaked, and I could feel his own tears splashing on my neck. "We won't forget him, we'll make sure he's remembered."

I withdrew from his embrace and picked up my glass. Arthur mirrored my movement. There were no words to express the pain of losing a friend, and I certainly wasn't about to try.

"Jasper." I sad eventually, raising my glass.

"To Jasper." Arthur echoed, raising his own. We downed our drinks in memory of the fallen architect.

I slid my totem from my pocket and flipped it once. It landed on the side which read Mombasa. Reality. It was worth a try. The loaded die I always kept with my totem was gone, presumably lost in all the confusion. It had no sentimental attachment, so I wasn't particularly upset by its disappearance. Even if it had, material belongings had no value to me at that moment in time. The only thing that mattered to me now was the man sitting in front of me.

"I'm glad it wasn't you." I admitted. "Does that make me a bad person?"

Arthur shook his head. "I'm glad it wasn't you too."

I leaned forward and enveloped him in a hug, inhaling deeply; his scent was clean, and expensive and warm, but marred by the metallic scent of my blood. I could feel the point man's surprise, but he returned the gesture. He needed the comfort as much as I did, the contact keeping me grounded.

The Chester job wasn't the first job that had gone wrong, and I was certain it wouldn't be the last, but while I had a friend like Arthur by my side, I knew things would always get better.

* * *

**If you have major corrections to make to my German, please note that I used Google translate. I have zero experience with the language, so I have no idea if it's right.**

**Please review, feedback always appreciated! The next chapter will consist of the first argument in my story Inception: The Fischer Job, when Eames is still in Mombasa.**


	3. Versatile

**Here's chapter three, where Eames and Arthur have their first major falling out. Enjoy!**

* * *

Stepping out into the sun, I basked the heat. Growing up in England, where the weather was unpredictable at best, I tended to prefer warmer climates when choosing where to travel to next. At the moment, I was currently staying with a man named Yusuf, a chemist I'd worked with on a previous job. We'd struck up an unlikely friendship, and I was surprised when I'd learnt that he lived in Mombasa, a city I had sentimental reasons for liking. It was where I'd first laid eyes on Arthur, my best friend and the man I'd fallen for, hard.

Since the trauma of the Chester job, which had resulted in the death of our architect, a kid I'd worked with since he'd started in dreamsharing, Arthur and I had worked together six more times. Somewhere in that time, I'd been struck with the realisation that I was falling for the point man. Our friendship had grown in our mutual grief over Jasper's death, and for almost a month after, we'd stayed together, unwilling to separate and leave the other. Arthur's excuse had been that he was worried he hadn't cleaned my wound properly and wanted to ensure it wouldn't get infected, but I knew the truth. We'd clung to each other, unsure of how to grieve and scared to go back into dreamsharing alone.

Eventually, tragedy had struck and we'd run out of excuses. Mal had killed herself, leaving Cobb distraught and Arthur horrified and confused. Any respect I'd had for the extractor had died with Mal, because he fled, agreeing to work for Cobol Engineering. Cobb's personal choices didn't offend me. What offended me was that Arthur had gone with him. Pushing his own life, and personal safety aside, he'd left, worried about his partner.

I didn't mind that Arthur had left with Cobb. My problem was Cobol. They were dangerous. One failed job could mean the difference between life and death. And their reach was long. Ironically, they were based in Mombasa. They pretty much owned all the major businesses there. Knowing this, when Yusuf had mentioned where he was currently living, I'd made the decision to go with him, hoping to make an impression on Cobol Engineering. A forger in their midst wouldn't go unnoticed, and the rarity of the skill meant that they wouldn't want to alienate me. Which meant, if Cobb screwed up, I would be in a position to bargain for their lives. I'd been living in Mombasa for the last six months, repressing the monotony I felt if I stayed in one place for too long. Slowly, but surely, I'd be introduced to various team members of Cobol Engineering, taking any jobs they threw at me. I'd become a valuable asset to them, and hoped it would be enough if Cobb screwed up.

Glancing at my watch, I realised I was due a call from Arthur tomorrow. Since the disaster of the Chester job, we'd agreed to call each other every two days, so we could be sure of the other's safety. It had been Arthur's suggestion; one he'd made hesitantly, unable to meet my eyes as if he'd been scared I would laugh at his rare moment of sentimentality. I'd agreed instantly, glad he'd given us an excuse to check up on each other. Arthur was in the middle of a job currently, extracting an important businessman's expansion plans, but he'd stuck to his word and called on time. The job was set to finish today and he and Cobb were splitting up for the first time since Mal died. I hoped he would have a job lined up that required a forger. It had been almost six months since I'd last seen him.

I wandered towards a bench at the end of Yusuf's road. The chemist never intruded, giving me all the space I needed. Today, I had nothing on, so I intended to call around and find a job. Sitting down on the bench, I relished the heat of the sun on my face. I found this area a peaceful spot where few people passed by. I normally wandered along when I was waiting for Arthur's call, uncomfortable with talking to the point man in the house, because Yusuf knew my feelings for Arthur all too well. I'd never admitted it to him, but he could guess.

I was looking through my phonebook trying to find the number for an extractor, when the phone in my hand rang. I answered it within the first ring, but didn't speak. It was one of the security measures Arthur and I had implemented.

"It's me." Arthur said quietly.

"Darling!" I exclaimed, pleased and worried at the same time. He wasn't supposed to call until tomorrow. "How did the job go?"

"Badly. We're skipping out." Arthur admitted. "Nash screwed up."

I scowled angrily. That weasel's name had come up a few times during my jobs for Cobol. He'd sold out most of his team mates in order to stay alive. I'd be damned if I would let him set up Arthur. I stood up, heading back down the street towards Yusuf's house, a plan formulating in my head.

"Listen, I can't talk long." Arthur continued, before I could speak. "And I can't say where I'm going, this line isn't secure enough."

That made me laugh. "Arthur, if you're calling me from it, there isn't a more secure line in the continent. Assuming we're on the same continent."

Arthur chose not to comment on my praise, but I could tell from his tone that he was pleased.

"Get a new phone; I had this one traced in under a minute. I'll call you from where I end up. I might need you; can you give me some sort of hint to where you are?"

I resisted the urge to laugh. Always business first with Arthur.

"The first place we pulled a job together, darling. Stay safe."

I crushed my phone under foot, and dropped it in Yusuf's bin. Dashing upstairs, I grabbed the bag I always kept packed. It was always useful when I had to disappear on jobs for a few weeks. But this time, I was going for longer. I was the best at hiding; if I didn't want to be found, it was doubtful that even Arthur could find me. I didn't know if Arthur had the skill to stay hidden for long periods of time. Cobol would catch up with him sooner or later. So I was going after him. I could help him hide for as long as I could, and if Cobol found him, I would call in the few favours I'd earned to erase the mistake.

I packed quickly, barely taking the time to fold my shirts. Arthur was good enough to arrive at his intended destination in only a few hours, I needed to be ready. As soon as he called, I would be on my way. I already had another phone, having intended to destroy my last one anyway. Yusuf and I had both been tampering with it, trying to block any attempts to trace it. It was a futile attempt; Arthur would quite clearly be able to trace it, but I was filled with glee at the thought of the point man becoming frustrated over it.

Once I was finished, I headed to notify Yusuf of my imminent departure. He nodded, looking thoughtful.

"This Arthur is really special to you, isn't he?" It was the first time he'd actually asked about my relationship with Arthur. I paused for a moment, tense, before I relaxed, nodding.

"Yeah. But it's complicated." I admitted.

"In what way?" Yusuf frowned. "It seems pretty straightforward to me."

"Arthur is…, well, difficult to describe. He doesn't seem to have feelings to most people, but they are there. In fact, I think he feels more strongly than anyone else. He just doesn't express them. Sometimes it drives me mad that he doesn't seem to care at all, but then he'll say something or do something so thoughtful and look so _unsure_… like he doesn't know what to do."

As soon as I started talking about the point man, everything just flooded out, everything that had been in the forefront of my mind about him was being unleashed and I couldn't stop.

"And when we did that job in Berlin where I got shot, I think I saw a side of him that no one else has. It's just so _frustrating_. He's my best mate, and I'm just terrified that one day he's going to work out how I feel about him and walk away, and then I'll have lost everything, because what I have with him isn't enough anymore."

I sighed, feeling a lot better once I'd offloaded all my worries and thoughts onto Yusuf. The chemist was smiling at me and I suddenly felt really stupid. I should be telling Arthur all this. That I had feelings for him that went beyond platonic. A straightforward rejection would be the worst case scenario. I'd been rejected before; I'd have a damaged pride but then we could try and save our friendship.

"Sorry for babbling, Yusuf, I don't know what came over me." I grinned, suddenly feeling a lot better.

"I'm intrigued now." He said slowly. "Tell me more about this Arthur."

The grin on my face grew wider and I began telling Yusuf everything, from the time I met Arthur to the phone call I'd just had with the point man earlier. He listened patiently, occasionally asking a question.

"It sounds like you're pretty serious about him. But I knew that already." At my questioning look, he continued. "You have a reputation, Eames, for being a flirt. Conquests, I believe were the words used. Yet you've been living with me for almost six months and you've never brought anyone back. When was the last time you dated, spent the night with someone?"

Embarrassed, I looked at the floor. "Before the Chester job in Berlin." I said at last. "It's not for lack of trying. It's just …every time I see someone I'm attracted to…"

"…they remind you of Arthur." Yusuf finished, nodding. "You're going to have to tell him how you feel, Eames."

"I know." I nodded. "When I see him, I'll tell him."

My phone rang at that point. I glanced at the caller ID. I didn't recognise the number, but the area code was European. France, if I remembered correctly. I answered the call, grinning as I remembered the efforts I'd gone through to cause Arthur problems.

"How long did it take you, darling?" I tried to hide the laughter in my voice, but I knew Arthur wouldn't miss it.

"Four minutes." Came the reply. "I'm impressed."

"Your condescension, darling, is much appreciated. I see from the area code that you're not in America. How did you manage to talk yourself out of that one?" I was intrigued and hesitant. Cobol wouldn't let him go without their pound of flesh. If he had escaped without encountering them, it was risky to be pulling another job so soon.

"Nash sold us out to Saito, but was handed over to Cobol for his trouble." I winced. He'd be dead by morning. "Saito offered us a job. We're in Paris. Cobb's on his way to see you now. You wouldn't sell him out, would you?"

I frowned. "Of course I would." My trustworthy attitude was reserved entirely for Arthur. As long as there was money involved, I would be happy to sell someone to Cobol. But I wouldn't do it to Cobb, it would hurt Arthur, and both of us knew it.

"Not when you hear what he's selling. No, don't ask me." He interrupted before I could get the words out, knowing I was about to ask. "Not over the phone. He can explain when he gets there, but I need a location."

I paused. I couldn't bring him here, Yusuf wanted to be kept out of any disputes with Cobol. They could crush his livelihood easily. I thought for a moment, then gave the address of a casino. I could almost sense Arthur's amusement through the phone.

"Eames, I need a favour." I was alert instantly. Arthur never asked anyone for anything. If he was actually asking me for something, I knew I would sell my soul to ensure I could help.

"I'm listening, darling." I tried to sound casual.

"I'd prefer you didn't mention to Cobb you'd heard from me since the last job. He doesn't know we stay in touch and it would raise a lot of awkward questions."

I froze, unable to formulate any words. I didn't understand. I mean, it was clear Cobb didn't trust me; I didn't blame him, but I didn't think Arthur would go so far as to pretend we didn't stay in touch.

"Are you still there?" He said. I could feel Yusuf's eyes on me, and I knew he could hear every word.

"Embarrassed of me, darling?" I asked, adopting a light, teasing tone, contrary to how I actually felt.

"Well … there's nothing to be embarrassed about, really." I could almost hear the frown in his voice, and it was more than I could stand. It was suddenly difficult to breathe, to think that the friendship I'd taken for granted meant nothing to him. I swallowed, feeling the forger in me burst to the surface in an attempt to hide my hurt.

"No. No, you're right Arthur. Well, you have the address so I'll be seeing you." I hung up the phone, dropping it and crushing it viciously under my heel, feeling like my heart had received the same treatment.

"Eames…" Yusuf began hesitantly. I cut him off, briskly, grabbing my coat.

"Well, I could do with a drink. Don't wait up!" I walked to the nearest bar, numbly, unable to understand how everything could have changed within a few minutes. My head ached and it only got worse as I ordered whisky after whisky, desperately trying to forget the pain in my chest and to suppress the urge to lie down and cry. I'd been such an idiot, to think I meant anything to him at all, to even dream that I would ever even be his friend, never mind anything more. A hand on my shoulder brought me out of my stupor.

"Ahh, Josef." I slurred at the bartender. "Another drink, please."

"It's closing time, Eames. Should I call Yusuf?"

I shook my head, slowly getting to my feet and bidding farewell to Josef. It wasn't far back to the house. Drunk as I was, I was pretty sure I could make it back without collapsing. The fresh air on the way did little to sober me up. I suddenly wished I was anywhere but Mombasa, unable to bear the memories I had of the point man.

"Why do I mean so little to you?" I slurred, feeling thoroughly miserable. I pulled out my keys, but dropped them. Bending down to pick them up, I fell into the door.

"Shhh." I hissed. "You'll wake Yusuf up."

I finally managed to grasp my keys and saw the front door was open. The chemist was clearly still awake. I staggered through the open door, seeing Yusuf's furniture warp drastically. The room was spinning ridiculously fast; it was hard to keep my balance. I had definitely had too much to drink. No doubt about it.

Yusuf's hands came into view, and he helped me to the sofa. I collapsed on it, knowing I wouldn't be able to get upstairs in my current state.

"Am I such a bad person, Yusuf?" I slurred. My words didn't come out exactly how I wanted them too, but since he replied I assumed I had made some sense.

"Of course not, Eames." He smiled at me, but all I could think about was Arthur's smile, which hurt my heart. He would never smile for me.

"I must be." I said drowsily, trying to keep my train of thought going as I drifted into a drunken stupor. "Because I'm destined to die alone."

"Why would you think that?" Yusuf said, his voice sounding so far away.

"Because the only person, the only _man_ I will ever want is embarrassed to even be friends with me." I mumbled, failing to stifle a sob as pain ripped through me as I acknowledged the reason I had spent all afternoon spending money I didn't have on too much alcohol. "Arthur…"

* * *

I awoke after a few hours with the most god-awful hangover I'd ever known. Yusuf was sitting on the chair, looking at me pityingly. He gestured to the table. I looked, groaning as the movement hurt my head. There was a bottle of pills and a glass of water.

"Hangover cure. Guaranteed to work. I invented it. Take two with water and you'll feel perfect in about two minutes." He said proudly. I winced, his volume sending shooting pains through my brain. I reached for the pills, swallowing two with the glass of water. Sure enough, I could feel the pain receding and after a few minutes, the hangover had disappeared entirely.

"Thanks. I better be quick or I'll miss him." I said, standing up and rolling my shoulders, trying to dispense of the ache that sleeping on the sofa had caused. I showered and brushed my hair, dressing hurriedly into the first things in the top of the bag. I could still smell the whisky on my breath, so I brushed my teeth twice. When I came back downstairs, Yusuf was gone, presumably to work. He'd left a brand new phone on the table for me, knowing I had crushed my own the day before. I switched it on and headed out to the casino, taking the last of the money I had with me.

I was down to my last two chips when I heard Cobb behind me.

"You can rub them together all you want, they're not going to breed." I turned around, to ensure it was him. An unnecessary rage flooded through me. This man, this irresponsible _idiot_, was making jokes, when his partner, the man I considered my best friend, had just told me our friendship was nothing.

"You never know." I said curtly, placing a chip down on number thirteen.

"Let me get you a drink." Cobb suggested. The dealer rolled the dice and I lost, sweeping away the chips.

"You're buying." I stood up and swept past him towards the counter. So far, I'd neglected to pull any cons in Mombasa, not wanting to upset Cobol and risk having to flee. Now I had nothing to lose. Pulling two small stacks of forged chips out of my pocket, I placed them on the counter. Cobb reached over a picked one off the top. I gritted my teeth, but didn't take my eyes off the woman behind the counter.

"Well, your spelling hasn't improved."

"Piss off." I snapped. I wasn't in the mood for jibes. I felt betrayed, worthless. The only person I'd ever trusted, _trusted me_, had let me down. The only person I would never even consider betraying had stamped on my heart. And I felt like such a fool for giving him the opportunity.

"How's your handwriting?" Cobb continued, unaware of my mood. I paused to calm down a little before I answered.

"It's versatile."

"Good." Cobb said, as the cashier came back with my 'winnings'. I thanked her and followed Cobb to a table near the window.

"Word is, you're not welcome in these parts." I raised an eyebrow at Cobb. Arthur might not value the friendship I'd thought we had, but he'd asked me to pretend I knew nothing about them, so I would do it.

"Yeah?" Cobb asked, seemingly uninterested, but I could tell from the way he leaned forward slightly that he was worried.

"There's a price on your head from Cobol Engineering. Pretty big one actually." It wasn't a lie. Casinos were always the best place to hear the gossip. If that wasn't enough, there was a man at the bar who kept looking at Cobb every few seconds. I recognised him as one of Cobol's hired thugs. Brilliant.

"You wouldn't sell me out." Cobb half-smiled and leaned back, casually. I stared at him. He was the second person to say that to me within the day. It was like everyone assumed I'd become trustworthy all of a sudden. My loyalty to Arthur didn't extend to everyone. A waitress came over and I ordered a beer and some nuts. She brought them over and Cobb poured me a glass.

"Of course I would." I stared him in the eye, expression serious. It was only when he next spoke that I realised he didn't trust me at all; he simply knew he had the higher bid for my interest.

"Not when you hear what I'm selling. Inception." He said. I froze, my attention grabbed instantly. "Now before you bother telling me it's impossible…"

"No, it's perfectly possible, it's just bloody difficult." I interrupted, popping a peanut into my mouth.

"Interesting…" Cobb said, thoughtfully. "Because Arthur keeps telling me it can't be done."

I forced a laugh. "_Arthur_. You still working with that stick-in-the-mud?" I smiled, ensuring it came across as sneering, rather than affectionate. I wouldn't let him down, determined to ensure Cobb didn't suspect a thing.

"He is good at what he does, right?" Cobb said, defending his partner. I felt my respect for Cobb rise slightly; he obvious did care about Arthur in some way. He was just too selfish to let him live his own life.

"Oh, he's the best." I conceded. "But he has no imagination."

"Not like you."

"Listen, if you're going to perform inception, you _need_ imagination." Arthur didn't believe inception was possible, which was why he'd never succeeded.

"Let me ask you something." Cobb leaned forward. "Have you done it before?"

"We tried it. We got the idea in place, but it didn't take." I admitted.

Cobb frowned. "You didn't plant it deep enough?"

I was frustrated at his naivety. "No, it's not just about depth. You, um, you need the simplest version of the idea in order for it to grow naturally in your subject's mind, it's a very subtle art." I explained. "So what is this idea you need to plant?"

"We need the heir of a major corporation to dissolve his father's empire." Cobb explained.

"Well you see there you have various political motivations, anti-monopolistic sentiments and so forth, but all of that stuff, it's really at the mercy of your subject's prejudice, you see. What you have to do is start at the absolute basic."

"Which is what?" Cobb queried.

"The relationship with the father."

Inception was stronger if it was based on the subject's desires, wants, secret longings. Political or business strategies took second place to emotions.

"Do you have a chemist?" I asked, suddenly. I'd been living with Yusuf rent free for almost six months, if I could bring him in on this job, I would. I owed him a favour. It was nothing at all to do with moral support due to Arthur being involved.

When Cobb shook his head, I continued. "Right, well there's a man here, Yusuf, he formulates his own versions of the compound."

"Why don't you take me there?" He asked. I struggled to keep my temper in check. He really hadn't noticed that he'd been followed?

"Once you've lost your tail. Man at the bar." I gestured subtly with my head.

"Cobol Engineering." Cobb realised. "That price on my head, was it dead or alive?"

"Don't remember. See if he starts shooting?" I suggested helpfully. I wasn't breaking my neck to do anything for Cobb when he'd put himself and Arthur in danger by involving himself with Cobol in the first place.

"Run interference." He ordered. "I'll meet you downstairs in the bar in say, half an hour?"

"Back here?" I clarified, nodding.

"It's the last place they'd suspect."

I laughed at the brilliance of his plan. "Righto." I said, standing up and heading over to his tail. "Freddie! Freddie Simmons, my God, it's you isn't it?"

I heard the sound of Cobb vaulting out of the window. The tail shot up.

"Who?" He directed at me, before rushing after him.

"No, it isn't you." I said, mostly to myself before settling back down to finish the drink Cobb had so graciously left for me. Checking my phone, I had no new calls or texts. I felt my chest become heavy. Arthur wasn't the apology type, I wasn't sure why I'd expected him to call and attempt to reconcile our friendship. Maybe I wasn't as important to him as I'd thought. I finished my drink, and resisted the urge to order another. Yusuf's cure had removed the hangover, but hadn't erased it from my memory. I had no desire to see Arthur whilst under the influence of a pounding headache.

I sighed and stood up, heading downstairs to see if Cobb had arrived. Inception was an intriguing prospect; if there was a team capable of pulling it off it was us. We had the best extractor, the best point man, the best chemist, and I was a damned good forger. The appeal of the job was the only reason I was still agreeing to this job. I had no desire to be anyone near Arthur at the moment. This job was going to be a nightmare, working in close proximity to the man that I was falling for, and yet clearly meant nothing to.

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**Hope you liked it, the next chapter will be their second argument whilst in the middle of the Inception, suggested by XxrockyxX in a review. It should be up by the end of the week. Please review, they make me happy, and happiness makes me write more fanfics!**


	4. Dreams

**Here's the next chapter, containing the second fight and make-up between Arthur and Eames, as suggested by XxrockyxX who wanted to see this scene from Eames' point of view. Hope I didn't disappoint!**

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The Fight

Arriving at the warehouse, I slid the door open. The two cars sped in and I closed the door behind them. Arthur met my eyes in a pleading gaze and I nodded, heading off to secure the warehouse, ensuring there were no projections hidden that would surprise us. At the centre of a very complex maze, I was confident there wouldn't be, but I couldn't risk any of us being shot, or the job wouldn't work.

Gun in my hand, I edged up the stairs to check there. I could hear the raised voices coming from downstairs and the echo meant I could hear every word.

"Don't tell me to calm down! This was your job, goddamnit, this was your responsibility! You were meant to check Fischer's background thoroughly; we are not prepared for this type of violence!"

Gritting my teeth, I headed back downstairs, thoroughly satisfied the warehouse was secure. If Saito's injury worried Cobb enough to take it out on Arthur, I would wake him up.

I could hear Arthur's reply to Cobb's accusations.

"We _have_ dealt with self-security before. We'll be a little more careful and we're gonna be fine!"

"This was _not_ a part of the plan; he's dying for God's sakes!" Cobb screamed. I stormed over, gun in hand, pointing it at Saito.

"Right, let's put him out of his misery." I intended fully to berate Cobb for his treatment of Arthur; it was beyond belief that he would come down so hard on one simple mistake Arthur had made, yet Arthur had only ever shown concern when the extractor had screwed up. Cobb grabbed me around the waist, his other hand closing around my wrist, moving the gun away from Saito as he pinned me to the taxi.

"Don't do that. _Don't _do that!" The man was clearly out of his mind, what was there to be gained from letting Saito suffer through his agony.

"Cobb, hey, hey, hey, he's in agony. I'm waking him up!" I tried to explain, suspicious of the extractor's sudden panic. Something wasn't quite right and it didn't take a genius to work out that Cobb was hiding something.

"No, it won't wake him up. It won't wake him up." Cobb repeated as I began to talk slowly over him, my tone dangerous.

"What do you mean it won't wake him up? When we die in a dream, we wake up."

"Not from this." Yusuf spoke up. I turned to look at my friend, reading the truth in his face. "We're too heavily sedated to wake up that way."

Yusuf's panting and obvious regret in his face told me that I wasn't going to like the answer to the question I was about to ask. Unwilling to blame the chemist for doing what he'd been told to do, I turned back to Cobb.

"Right, so what happens when we die?" I could feel my face going blank, but I was seething, knowing exactly what was coming.

"We drop into limbo." He admitted, turning away.

"Are you serious?" Arthur demanded. A quick glance showed me he was raging, and struggling to control his temper.

"Limbo?" Ariadne gasped. I couldn't help the pang of regret I felt towards her. This was far more dangerous than we'd ever intended it to be; she was too young. I felt a lump in my throat as I remembered the last time we'd took someone so young on a job. I'd grown attached to Ariadne, I couldn't bear to see her go the same way as Jasper.

"Unconstructed dream space." Arthur answered her question, but didn't stop glaring at Cobb.

"Then what the hell is down there?" She asked.

"Just raw, infinite subconscious._Nothing_ is down there; except whatever might have been left behind by anyone sharing the dream who's been trapped there before." He walked towards Cobb, threateningly. I had never seen my lover so aggressive, so intimidating. "Which in our case, is just you." He directed at Cobb.

"Well how long can we be stuck down there?" The poor girl was clearly terrified. In normal circumstances, I'd have tried to comfort her, but the fury I was feeling left me unable to move.

"We can't even think about trying to escape until the sedation has eased…" Yusuf began. I cut him off, impatiently.

"How _long_, Yusuf?"

"Decades. Could be infinite, I don't know, ask him, he's the one who's been there." He finished, gesturing to Cobb.

"First get him upstairs." Arthur cut us all off, and both he and Yusuf picked Saito up and carried him upstairs. I hung back, fully intent on murdering Cobb.

"Great. Thank you." I said, sarcastically. "So now we're trapped in Fischer's mind, battling his own private army, and if we get killed we'll be trapped in limbo till our brains turn to scrambled egg, hmm?" I gave Cobb my best ironic smirk, unwilling to resort to violence in front of Ariadne. Needless to say, if this job worked, I would _not_ be working with Cobb again, at least until he sorted his issues out.

The extractor had the decency to look ashamed as he followed the others upstairs, but it did nothing to quell my anger. Upstairs, Ariadne and Yusuf tried to make Saito more comfortable, while Arthur confronted Cobb about the danger he'd posed upon us all. In support of the point man, I stood behind him, glaring at Cobb.

"So you knew about these risks and you didn't tell us?" His voice was low, but there was no mistaking his tone. Arthur was _pissed_.

"There weren't meant to be any risks, I didn't know we'd be dealing with a load of gunfire." He tried to turn some of his blame onto Arthur, and I clenched my fists, gritting my teeth. The urge to punch him was overwhelming. I glanced over Arthur, who wasn't having any of it.

"You had no right."

"This was the only way to go three layers deep." Cobb shrugged, unrepentant.

And _you_." Arthur turned to Yusuf. I bit my lip, intending to step in if he went too far. "You knew about this and went along with it?"

"I trusted him!" He gestured to Cobb. Angry as I was, I bit back a grin. Trust had nothing to do with it. When it came to motivation, Yusuf only had one. Money.

"You _trusted _him, what after he promised you half his share?" Pride swelled within me at Arthur's omniscience. Nothing escaped the point man.

"No." Said Yusuf defensively."His whole share. Besides he said he'd done it before."

"Oh, he'd done it before." Arthur was sneering now, his anger beginning to get the better of him. I would have to step in soon. "What, with Mal? Cause that went so good?"

"That has nothing to do with it. I did what I had to do to get back to my children."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The sheer audacity of him, risking _seven_ lives, just so he could get home to his children.

"So you led us into a war zone with no way out?" I was furious.

"There is a way out, okay, we continue on with the job and we do it as fast as possible and we get out using the kick, just like before." Cobb reasoned.

"Forget it. We go any deeper we just raise the stakes. I am sitting this one out on this level, boys."

I sat down on a chair, my comment aimed at both Arthur and Cobb. Cobb, to tell him that I wasn't continuing this sham of a job any longer, and Arthur to give him the choice to stay with me or go with Cobb. Either way, I wasn't being part of it.

"Fischer's security is surrounding this place as we speak; ten hours of flight time is a week at this level. That means each and every one of us will be killed, that I can guarantee you." Cobb explained calmly. "We have no other choice but to continue on and do it as fast as possible. Downwards is the only way forwards."

Pushing my anger to one side, I saw the sense in his words. A long time ago, I'd have taken the risk, having nothing to lose. Now, I had Arthur and I could see my whole future with him and I wanted to live it. Which meant coming out of this job alive. I pursed my lips, resigned.

"Get ready." Cobb directed at me. He turned to Arthur, who was still glaring at him. I did _not_ want to be in Cobb's shoes after we woke. "You, come on, let's shake him up a bit."

They headed downstairs, and I followed quickly, grabbing Arthur's arm at the bottom of the stairs. I needed to make sure he was alright; I knew of his tendency to berate himself over failures, and this definitely wasn't his fault.

"Cobb, you don't mind if I have a quick word with Arthur?"

He was clearly about to object, but after the shit he'd put us through, I didn't intend to listen, steering Arthur away before he could bother to protest.

"What is it?" Arthur asked me, impatiently. "We're on a time frame."

"I know; I just wanted to make sure you knew this wasn't your fault. If something like this hadn't shown up on your research then it was because there was nothing there to find. Cobb's taking it out on you because we wouldn't have caught him out if Saito hadn't been shot."

""I don't need you babying me, Eames." Arthur snapped. I was taken aback, unsure of what I'd said that had enraged him, made him angry with _me. "_I know _exactly_ why Cobb is blaming me, and when we get out of here, I intend to shoot him in both kneecaps. I don't need you interfering whenever someone potentially upsets me. In fact, at the minute, I don't need you at all. Is that clear?"

I was hurt by his words; my motivation hadn't been to baby him. I had just felt that in his situation, I would have wanted Arthur there to reassure me. Unwilling to cause an argument, I backtracked, trying to create some distance between us.

"Okay, Arthur, if that's how you want it." I turned to head upstairs.

"It is." Arthur's tone was vicious. In the seven years we'd been friends, I'd heard that tone many times. But it had never been directed towards me. Since Cobb's revelation, I had barely managed to suppress my anger. But once Arthur had turned on me, I snapped.

"Good." I lashed out. "Because I'm sick of your work-comes-first attitude. I put up with it because it was how you are, but I'm fed up. I'm glad I took this job, Arthur, because it made me see exactly who you are and I'm not sure I like it all that much."

I stormed off upstairs, feeling my anger dissipate at the top. The words were bullshit. I had never felt that way about Arthur; I'd always known his work was a priority and I'd always seen it as necessary. I knew exactly who Arthur was, exactly what he was like and I loved every part of him. I'd fallen for the point man a long time ago and he'd been important to me from the moment I first laid eyes on him. It had taken seven years for the point man to requite my feelings and now we'd ruined it.

"You could apologise." Yusuf spoke quietly. My head snapped up. Of course he'd overheard. We weren't exactly quiet, and I'd heard myself how much the warehouse echoed.

"No." I shook my head. "I know I was out of line, but I was provoked. We're all under strain, but he chose to unleash it on me. If and when he apologises to me, then I'll return the sentiment genuinely. For now…" I swallowed. "There's no other way to take his words, other than it's over."

I shrugged, acting a lot more carefree than I felt. Yusuf looked at me sympathetically, but I turned away, picking up the clothes I had prepared for my forge and heading into the next room. I changed quickly, concentrating on what I was doing so I didn't have to think about Arthur. I strode back into the room, standing in front of the mirror required to complete the forger. Yusuf was looking through Fischer's wallet.

"Five hundred dollars this cost." He marvelled, sniffing the leather. I glanced over.

"What's inside it?" I asked. There could be something useful for the third level. The problem with inception is that it wasn't possible to be fully prepared. We were, as I'd told Cobb in Mombasa, at the mercy of our subject's prejudice. In the dream, we had to work with what we found.

"Cash, cards, ID…" Yusuf rattled off. "And this." He pulled out a picture and handed it to me. It was a picture of Robert Fischer and Maurice, and Robert was holding a pinwheel. Cobb came back upstairs and I handed the photo to him curtly.

"Useful?" I asked.

"Maybe." He admitted. "You're on. You've got an hour."

I gaped at him in the mirror as I sat down. "An hour? I was supposed to have all night to crack this."

"Saito wasn't supposed to be shot in the chest." Cobb retorted. I completed the forge and cried out, throwing the pain I felt from Arthur's words into my tone. I was impressed with the outcome. Pretty convincing. I cried out a few more times, throwing in a few sobs to make it convincing. Cobb grabbed me and began manhandling me downstairs, throwing me over by Fischer.

"You have one hour. Start talking." Cobb demanded, cuffing me roughly to a pipe. I kept up the charade of moaning in pain as both he and Arthur swept out of the room, slamming the door behind them.

"You alright? Are you okay?"

"Those bastards have been at me for two days. They have someone with access to your father's office and they're trying to open his safe. They thought I'd know the combination, but I don't know it." I groaned, resisting the urge to grin. I loved the thrill of forging, the ability to impersonate someone so completely that even their best friend wouldn't notice.

"Well, neither do I." Fischer dismissed.

"What? Maurice told me that when he passed, you'd be the only one able to open it." Frustration edged into my tone, not entirely voluntarily. Fischer was going to be a tough nut to crack as it was, an hour's time frame was _not_ enough.

"No, he never gave me any combination." He asserted. I knew he hadn't, but I needed to play the role just right. I needed him to be suspicious of Browning, but without giving him any reason to be.

"Well, maybe he did. Maybe you just didn't know it was a combination?" I pressed, ensuring I sounded slightly too eager.

Fischer frowned. "Well, what then?"

"I don't know." I floundered, grasping for an idea that would reveal the depth of his relationship with his father. "Some meaningful combination of numbers based on your experiences with Maurice?"

Fischer laughed; the sound was bitter and scornful. "We, um... we didn't have very many meaningful experiences together."

The conversation continued; forced, tense, unwilling, but eventually I found out that Robert Fischer's relationship with his father was one of the worst I'd ever known. So caught up in his business, Maurice Fischer had completely neglected his son. It was fairly simple to get everything I needed into the conversation; Robert provided me with an opportunity to mention the will and gave us the perfect scenario for the third level.

Cobb and Arthur burst back through the door.

"Times up."

"Alright." Fischer began to panic, losing the cool demeanour he'd adopted the whole time. "I don't know any combination. Not consciously anyway."

"How about instinctively, huh?" Cobb pointed a gun at his head. "I've got somebody standing in your father's office right now, ready to tap in the combination." He typed in a number and held the phone to Fischer's ear. "Give me the first six numbers that come into your head right now."

"I have no idea." Fischer sneered, clearly refusing to co-operate with the threat.

"Right now!" Cobb yelled. "I said right now. Right now." He pointed the gun towards my head and I flinched. If it went off accidentally, I could be trapped in limbo. Risking a glance at Arthur, I could see the panic in his eyes and felt some of the tension drain from my shoulders. He still cared for my safety; maybe there was still a chance we could sort this out.

"Five... two... eight, four, nine, one." I tore my eyes away from Arthur and committed the number to memory. It would be useful for the lower levels.

"You'll have to do better than that." Cobb said, hanging up the phone. "Alright, bag him." He directed at Arthur. Even though he was closer to Fischer, he stepped over to roughly pull a bag over my head. It didn't take a genius to work out that he had heard what had transpired between Arthur and I, and was taking it upon himself to give us both some space from each other. In a weird way, I was grateful. Regardless of his recklessness, his heart was in the right place. It would do neither of us any good to be placed in uncomfortable situations until our anger had subsided.

Not that I was still angry, I thought. I'd already forgiven Arthur for his loss of temper and would apologise as soon as the job was over, if he didn't approach me in the meantime. But for now, the reprieve Cobb was providing was giving us both a chance to think and cool down and it meant we could concentrate on the job, rather than our rocky relationship.

We were both bundled into the bag, only I wasn't tied up the way Fischer was. As soon as Arthur sprinkled the sedative onto Fischer, he tapped me on the shoulder once. I climbed back out of the van and pulled the bag off my head, panting. It was bloody hot inside there.

"What did you get?" Cobb pressed.

"That boy's relationship with his father is even worse than we imagined." I looked between Cobb and Arthur, keeping my expression neutral.

"And this helps us how?" Arthur snapped. I didn't reply, but Cobb stepped in.

"The stronger the issue, the more powerful the catharsis." He explained. I nodded.

"How're you gonna reconcile them if they're so estranged?" Arthur reappeared with an assault rifle, stopping to stare me in the face for a brief second. I could see he was still angry, but it was fading, the urgency of evacuating the warehouse was taking over.

"Well I'm working on that, aren't I?" Frustration crept back into my tone.

"Well work faster." He ordered. "The projections are closing in quick. We gotta break out of here before we're totally boxed in." He disappeared to the door of the warehouse. I watched him struggle for a few seconds, before I picked up the grenade launcher and headed over.

"You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling." I took aim and fired at the projection that had eluded Arthur's bullets. I managed to keep a straight face, but was inwardly grinning at Arthur's expression which was betraying that he was reluctantly impressed. I walked away, hopping into the van as we sped away.

Cobb began to reiterate the plan back to us.

"You're going to destroy his one positive relationship?" Ariadne's naivety was apparent to us all.

"No, we repair his relationship with his father, while exposing his godfather's true nature. We should charge Fischer a lot more than Saito for this job." I grinned, trying to lighten the mood.

"What about his security? It's gonna get worse as we go deeper." Arthur questioned. It was a good point, there weren't many places to hide in a hotel.

"Yeah, I think we run with Mr Charles." Cobb said, distantly.

Arthur objected instantly. I queried who Mr Charles was, but my question was ignored.

"The second we get into that hotel and approach Fischer, his security is gonna be all over us. We run with Mr Charles like we did on the Stein job."

"So you've done it before?" I asked, leaning forward. We were already taking enough risks, if Arthur was so set against it, then it definitely wasn't a good idea.

"Yeah, and it _didn't work_." Arthur argued, clearly talking to Cobb. "The subject realised he was dreaming and his subconscious tore us to pieces."

"_Excellent_!" I adopted a cheery, sarcastic approach. "But you learnt from that right?"

"We need some kind of distraction." Cobb spoke up.

"No problem. How about a lovely lady that I've used before?" I grinned, knowing exactly who I would use. Samantha James, the secretary from my first job with Arthur. She was stunning, beautiful enough to keep Fischer's attention, at the same time, it couldn't hurt to help Arthur remember our first job together. Slipping the needle into my arm, I lay back and waited to go under.

"Sweet dreams." I heard Yusuf say, and then I opened my eyes. I forged into Samantha instantly, taking my place at the bar next to Fischer. I scribbled Fischer's combination down on a napkin and waited for my cue, flirting with him unashamedly. A few moments later, Cobb came in and took over. I dropped the napkin on Fischer's lap, ensuring he would see the numbers again. As I put the napkin on his knee, I slipped his wallet out of his pocket.

"In case you get bored." I whispered seductively, swaying my hips as I left the bar. Walking through the lobby, I saw Arthur and Ariadne watching the bar. He would no doubt be explaining to Ariadne exactly what was going on. I kept my eyes fixed firmly ahead, but I knew Arthur would see me and recognise me instantly. I headed for the lift, knowing Saito would be making his way to the lobby.

Sure enough, the doors opened to reveal him.

"Mr Saito, may I have a moment?" I grinned, pushing him back into the lift.

"Uh, sorry, I..." He floundered. The mirror beside us allowed me to drop the forge, melting back into my usual self.

"You look a bit perkier." I commented, grinning at Saito's disapproval.

"Very amusing, Mr Eames." He glared, pushing me back. I checked the wallet I'd just lifted, finding the same photograph. The foundations rumbled as we moved up, but I dismissed it, knowing it was the stability of the dream and that it wasn't dangerous enough to be worried.

"Turbulence on the plane?" Saito question. I suppressed a grin, biting back a remark about tourists.

"No, it's much closer. It's Yusuf's driving." I moved over to his side, slotting the picture back into the wallet.

"Get out on a different floor and keep moving. Dump the wallet, security will be looking for that." The lift chimed its arrival and I got out. I paused and turned back. "We need to buy Cobb a little more time."

I headed off down the corridor. Splitting up would cause the projections to chase after both of us, separating them and distracting them from Cobb and Arthur. I slipped to the floor below, checking it was clear. As I was heading back upstairs, my phone rang. I didn't even need to look at it to know it was Arthur. I was struck with a sudden panic. What if he wanted to end things now so he could concentrate on the job?

"Eames speaking." I answered, adopting a light, casual tone.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you." I was floored. Arthur was apologising? I felt foolish. Of course I meant something to him. Arthur never did anything unless he was absolutely sure of it; he wouldn't have started this relationship if he intended to end it after the first fight. My fears had been entirely unwarranted.

"I just wasn't used to having someone care and I panicked." He finished. I could feel myself smiling, suddenly feeling on top of the world.

"It's fine, darling." I'd already forgiven him. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry too. I've always known how you are and I like every bit of it."

"I did something bad." Arthur said quietly. My stomach dropped and the grin slid off my face. What could be so bad that Arthur thought was so bad? I was silent for a moment, not sure if I wanted to know.

"What did you do?" I said at last, trying to stay calm and not imagine the worst scenario.

"I kissed Ariadne."

I burst out laughing. "Good God, Arthur, is that all? You and I both know you're into men. What were you thinking?"

The relief I felt was overwhelming. Something as silly as a kiss wasn't worth getting angry over. I was just glad that things were okay between us. I'd wanted Arthur for so long and now I was finally be able to call him mine, to know that it was me he wanted. I wouldn't be able to give him up now if things hadn't worked out. I would have been devastated. Luckily, the feelings he had for me obviously matched my own, because it appeared he wasn't willing to give me up either.

"I don't know." He admitted. "I just lost my head for a moment."

I chuckled. "Forget about it, darling. I've got to go for now, I need to meet back up with Saito. Stay safe, won't you?"

"You too." He whispered, and I hung up. There was a definite spring in my step as I walked down the corridor. My mind should have been on the job, but all I could think about was Arthur. Yet somehow, I didn't care.

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**Okay, so only one chapter left! For some reason, my brain won't leave me alone, and I have an idea for another Arthur/Eames story, a domestic verse concentrating on their life outside of jobs, which I intend to start more or less immediately upon finishing this one, so if you're interested, keep an eye out!**

**The final chapter will take place around five years after the epilogue of Inception: The Fischer Job, showing how both their lives turned out, and whether or not they managed to stay together.**

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**Reviews, as always, are much appreciated, thank you :)**


	5. Trust

The Future

I opened the front door to the home I shared with Arthur, wondering if he was home yet.

"Darling, are you home?" I called, kicking off my shoes and hanging up my jacket.

"In here." Arthur called from the kitchen. My smiled dropped. If Arthur was in the kitchen, there was probably about to be a fire. He couldn't cook for shit. I walked quickly towards the kitchen and stopped in the doorway. Arthur had ordered in from the Thai place I loved around the corner. Not only that, he'd clearly gone to a lot of trouble. The table was laid, two candles decorating the centre and the only light in the room. Arthur was looking up at me shyly, clearly desperate for approval. When he gave me that look, I fell in love with him all over again. My Arthur, who was never sure if he was doing the right thing where our relationship was concerned.

"Darling." Was all I could manage to say, totally thrown by the effort he'd gone to. It wasn't often that Arthur made extravagant declarations of love, so I cherished and appreciated the times he did.

"Bet you were worried I'd set fire to the kitchen." Arthur grinned, leaning against the counter. My eyes roamed hungrily over his body, imagining undoing the buttons on his shirt.

"Not at all, darling." I lied, unable to tear my eyes away from his torso.

"Tut tut, Eames, after the effort I went to for dinner, and you're thinking about skipping straight to dessert." Arthur's tone was teasing, light, but I could hear the underlying note which meant he was terrified he'd done something wrong. That tone was enough to force me to look him in the eye.

"It looks wonderful, Arthur." I said sincerely, heading over to press a kiss to his lips. He smiled, wrapping his arms around me. "Happy anniversary, love."

"You remembered." He beamed. I grinned.

"So little faith in me, darling. I've never forgotten any so far. Especially our fifth." It was true. But I had an ulterior motive for remembering our anniversary this year. We sat down at the table, and I fingered the ring box in my pocket, nervously. I wasn't sure Arthur would accept. My mind drifted back to our third anniversary, when I'd initially broached the subject of marriage with Arthur.

"Darling," I'd said, as casually as I could manage. "What do you think about marriage?"

Arthur froze next to me. I rolled my eyes.

"Relax, darling, it wasn't a proposal. I was just curious about our future. We have known each other for ten years after all, and we've been together for three. I just wanted to be sure we were both on the same page."

Arthur relaxed, but didn't speak immediately. I assumed he wasn't ready to discuss it and began paying attention to the James Bond film we'd put on TV. Just as it was getting to the final showdown, Arthur spoke up.

"I'm ... not really fond of the idea." He admitted. I turned to look at him, smiling.

"Marrying in general, darling or just me?"

Arthur didn't smile at my joke. "It's not about you, Eames, hell, if there was anyone I would ever _want _to marry it would be you. I've just never really been fond of the tradition. If I'm honest, it's more the ceremony; being expected to invite people you barely speak to, to cement a relationship you already know is secure. It's pointless."

I nodded, understanding completely. "So if it's just the ceremony you don't like, are you opposed to eloping?"

"Too cliché." Arthur mused. "I thought this wasn't a proposal, anyway?"

I grinned. "Darling, if I was going to propose, I'd do it properly. On one knee and everything. You'll know about it if I ever do propose."

"Do you want to get married?" Arthur asked, abruptly. I thought about it for a moment.

"I always expected to." I said honestly. "But I've never thought about it seriously until now. I guess so, yeah, I'd like to one day."

Not another word had been spoken about marriage. But recently, the subject had been praying on my mind. I didn't want to get married, but I did want to marry Arthur. The problem was that he didn't want it. So I'd found what I hoped was a suitable compromise.

"You're not eating." Arthur frowned at my plate. I looked down to see my still-full plate. My thought had distracted me.

"Sorry, darling, was miles away. How was the Gordon job?" I began eating as he talked me through the job that had separated us for more than a month. I'd taken a short job here in LA which had finished that evening and was overjoyed when Arthur had called to say he'd be back for our anniversary.

"Shit." Arthur grimaced, taking another bite of his noodles. "The whole plan went to shit; luckily I was there to extract what we needed. I am never working with another forger again; Christ, Eames, I've been so used to working with you I'd forgotten how incompetent other forgers were."

I grinned. "So you at least admit that I'm competent."

Arthur looked up at me, his eyes soft. "You knew that already."

I nodded. "I did, but it's nice to hear it sometimes." I smiled back at him. He reached over the table and took my hand. I turned my hand palm up and stroked the back of his hand with my thumb.

"I've missed you." Arthur confessed. I beamed at him.

"I missed you too, darling. It's been awful, cooking for one, sleeping alone..." I sighed. "But it's been brilliant being able to cook without you standing over me, telling me to hurry up because 'you're starving.'" I mimicked his American accent perfectly. He scowled at me.

"I retract that. I haven't missed you at all." He glared across the table at me.

I just chuckled and finished my noodles. Arthur took the dishes over to the sink and ran the tap to wash them. I followed him over and turned the water off. He turned to look at me, surprised.

"Arthur, it's our anniversary. Come and watch a film with me." I ordered. Arthur frowned.

"But the dishes..." He muttered and I knew it was killing him to leave even the slightest mess in our kitchen.

"Darling, the dishes can be buggered for all I care. Come on."

Without taking no for an answer, I took him by the hand and led him firmly into the living room, ensuring he was sitting right next to me.

"Can we talk?" I asked, deciding it was time I brought up the subject.

"Sure." Arthur turned to me. "What's up?"

"I was thinking, darling, you know I love you, right? Because I do. And I know you don't want to get married..." Arthur froze, staring at me in horror as I went down on one knee, slipping the ring box from my pocket. "But I thought maybe we could compromise, and you could wear this for me."

I flipped open the ring box to show a simple, platinum band that I knew Arthur would appreciate. He reached over and took the ring out of the box and smiled, leaning over and kissing me firmly on the lips.

"I'm already yours, Eames. Of course I'll wear it." I grinned triumphantly and put it on his finger. "I have something for you too." He confessed. I looked up, interested, noting his unease. We normally didn't bother with anniversary presents, choosing just to spend the day together. Arthur disappeared from the room and I moved from the floor, sitting on the sofa patiently. He reappeared with his laptop and I was intrigued. I wasn't stupid enough to think he was giving me his laptop, so it was something related to it. He handed me a piece of paper with four words on it. I read them, only understanding when I read the bottom one. My first name. He'd given me his laptop passwords.

"Darling..." I choked. This was just as enormous as when we'd exchanged totems. This was Arthur's proof of ultimate trust.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Don't be dense, Eames, that's not the present. I'm just saying you can use the laptop whenever you need to. Memorise that and then burn it." He ordered.

I did as I was told, but I was even more intrigued. Something that he thought was more important than his laptop passwords. He typed furiously on his laptop for a moment, holding his finger up when I tried to have a look at what he was doing. Clearly he wanted it to be a surprise.

He eventually stopped and placed it in front of me.

"I don't understand. It's a marriage certificate, registered to..." My eyes snapped to Arthur to see him holding out a ring box. My jaw dropped.

"Darling, I thought...?" I gaped, unable to finish my sentence.

"I didn't want the ceremony, but I did want to marry you. I kind of liked the idea that you'd always be mine. Till death do us part." Arthur quoted, smiling at me. "So I thought this might be a suitable compromise. It's a real document, showing that we were married in England yesterday. If it's not enough, I totally understand." He bowed his head.

I pulled him up for a kiss, rough and passionate. He moaned and I took the opportunity to slip my tongue into his mouth, wrapping my arms around him. After a few moments, he pulled back, flushed and with swollen lips.

"I assume that was a yes then?" He grinned, offering the ring box to me again. I opened it, gingerly, and found a similar ring to the one I'd given Arthur; a simple platinum band. With Arthur's help, I slid it onto my ring finger, unable to stop myself from smiling at the point man; a gesture he returned. I turned the TV off, and looked at Arthur.

"Bed, darling?" I raised an eyebrow suggestively. The point man rose.

"Thought you'd never ask." He grinned, and I dragged him roughly into the bedroom.

Our 'marriage' was made public six months later, when Arthur and I took a job in Mombasa. Saito had ensured that Cobol Engineering was no longer interested in Arthur, so we were free to take the job without risk of him being hunted down. Cobb also came back to the business on occasion, as long as the job didn't take him away from his children too long. This job was only set to take two weeks, so he'd agreed to perform the extraction.

Ariadne had returned as our architect and Yusuf agreed to provide the compound and monitor us to ensure that there were no issues like on the Chester job as he'd done for us every time we'd hired him. So it was like a family reunion, as I pointed out on our arrival at the familiar warehouse.

"Does that make you mother?" Yusuf grinned. I grinned back, pleased to see my old friend.

"Of course not. You're the one watching over us, that makes you Mother Goose."

Arthur chuckled and Yusuf flashed a grin at him, good-naturedly. Cobb was a lot happier now than when I'd last worked with him. Being at home with his kids was doing him good. He no longer walked like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. From Arthur's softened expression, I could tell he'd noticed the change too. For all that we lived in the same city, I hadn't seen Cobb once since the Fischer job.

Ariadne came over and enveloped us both in a hug.

"It's really good to see you both again." She smiled.

"I'd forgotten how tiny you were, Ariadne. Ouch!" I cried, as Arthur elbowed me in the side. "I mean, it's great to see you too."

Arthur brought his hand to his rub his forehead exasperatedly. I grinned, unabashed.

"Arthur..." Ariadne began slowly. "What is _that?_"

I followed her gaze to see she had spotted the ring on Arthur's finger. Shit, we hadn't discussed whether or not to tell everyone. It was dangerous for people to know your weaknesses. You could be used against each other. Then again, everyone present already knew about our relationship.

I glanced at Arthur to make sure he wasn't having conniptions. He hated people knowing his business. To my surprise, he was already looking at me, fondly. I took his hand and he smiled.

"Err, yes." I began, then looked at Arthur for support. He inclined his head for me to continue. Traitor. "We got married?"

Silence flooded the warehouse for a total of two seconds, before everything dissolved into pandemonium.

Ariadne hugged us tightly again, congratulating us four or five times. Yusuf shook my hand and Arthur's with tears in his eyes, much to my amusement. Cobb shook Arthur's hand warmly, and then held out his hand for me to take. His earlier hesitation in accepting our relationship was gone. He seemed to finally trust me. The realisation bowled me over, and I made my excuses, leaving the warehouse swiftly, to everyone's surprise.

I wandered to the closest shop, buying a pack of cigarettes and lighter. I didn't smoke as such, but in times of great stress or thought I often developed the urge. I wandered away from the warehouse, unthinkingly heading towards the home I'd shared with Yusuf. I settled down on the bench I used to frequent when I'd lived here and lit the cigarette, inhaling deeply. I could hear footsteps behind me and didn't have to turn to see who it was.

"Smoking will give you lung cancer." Arthur said quietly. I didn't turn and he didn't speak again, moving to sit next to me silently. I slid along the bench to create some room. He waited patiently for me to finish smoking.

"They trust me." I said when I'd put the cigarette out. "All of them. Cobb, Yusuf, Ariadne, you... I've never been someone people could trust and yet none of them would even think that I could sell them out at any point. I used to be just like Nash, everyone seems to forget that."

"I haven't." Arthur said quietly. "I know exactly what you used to be like. When we first met you mentioned that you knew I'd researched you. You were right, I did. I found out everything, people you'd worked with, people you'd sold out. I found everything you'd done, everything you were capable of. And I still told Cobb to hire you."

"Why?" I asked, curiously, forgetting my melancholy.

"Because I didn't believe someone could be that bad." Arthur admitted. "Because you were the best. And then you turned up. Here." He gestured in the direction of the warehouse. "And I saw I was wrong. You were that bad. You were capable of everything I'd read you'd done."

I bowed my head, ashamed.

"But not to me." Arthur continued. I met his gaze again. "Because I saw everything bad in you, but I also saw everything good. And I knew that, whatever you did, you would never do it to me. So I kept in touch. Made sure you were available every time we needed a forger." He took my hand. "I saw what they all see now, Eames, and for twelve years you've proved me right. In all that time, what have you done to hurt me? I fell in love with you. I married you, for Christ's sakes. You've had ample opportunity to destroy me. Why didn't you?"

"Because I love you. Because you were right, everything you saw. Because I could never do it to you." I admitted. "That thought has frustrated me to no end for twelve years, because I don't know _why_ you were different. You just were."

Arthur was silent for a moment, staring at the floor. When he looked back at me, his eyes were sad, but his face was serious.

"Is this ... what you want, Eames? No, let me finish." He held a hand up to stop me from interrupting. "You're clearly thrown by all of this. And I completely understand why. Everything you've known and everything you are has been taken from under your nose and it's taken you a while to notice it. You had your life before I came along and you were happy. If there's even the slightest doubt that this isn't want you want; that you want to go back to that, then tell me now, and I swear I'll never hold it against you."

I was dumbstruck and unable to formulate my sentence properly.

"What...you...I...don't...Jesus Christ, Arthur!" I exploded. "Of course I bloody want this. We've been together for five years, and I wanted you for another seven before that!" My tone softened. "Arthur, listen to me, of course I want you. In your own words, I married you for Christ's sakes. I will _never_ want anyone else. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, risking my life with you, knowing I'll wake up to find you're next to me. I've never been more sure of anything."

Arthur smiled. "Then why all this? The smoking, the misery?"

I smiled back. "Just a moment of silliness. Come on, let's go back."

I stood and turned to walk back to the warehouse. A hand on my arm stopped me. I turned back to see Arthur grinning at me, slyly.

"What's wrong?" I queried, repressing a shudder as Arthur pulled me to him, pressing a lingering, teasing kiss to my lips.

"Yusuf's at the warehouse." He grinned. I nodded, unsure of where this was going.

"So his house will be empty." Arthur continued, grinning. "His _sofa _will be free. I think we owe him a little for his incessant teasing, don't you?"

I cottoned on instantly and my face lit up.

"Darling, you are utterly _incorrigible_!" I exclaimed delightedly, grabbing my husband's hand and pulling him towards Yusuf's front door, lock pick already in my hand.

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**Well, this is it. It's been a lot of fun writing this, I hope you've enjoyed reading it just as much. Please review if you've read it, I really appreciate all feedback and will take it on board for the future. My next fic will either be a oneshot, or a new domestic verse, both of which I have ideas for. It's just a case of which one I write first.**

**Special thanks to catrites and XxrockyxX who have reviewed consistently throughout both stories. I'd also like to thank Mevenia for her amazing feedback and Ci, who remains anonymous so I cannot thank personally.**

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**Deeper Dreams. **


	6. Thirty Years On

**To the anonymous reviewer who doesn't understand the gap between Chapters 3 and 4, i****t does specify that this story is a companion piece to ****Inception: The Fischer Job, both in the summary ****and the AN in the first chapter. It also tells you to read the other story first. That should fill in the gaps for you, but thank you for your review nonetheless :)**

**This isn't an extra chapter, but it does contain a short drabble of Arthur and Eames, set thirty years after the last chapter. I couldn't bear to leave it as it was.**

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I looked over at the man sitting beside me. Even thirty years on, Arthur was still as attractive to me as the day we met, if not more so. His black hair was long gone, having gone grey with age and stress. My hair was much the same now, all traces of youth far behind us.

Arthur caught me staring, and smiled at me, taking my hand. The breeze blew cold, and he shivered.

"Come on, darling." I stood, holding out my hand for him to take, which he did. "Let's go home."

We'd retired from the dreamsharing business shortly before my fortieth birthday. Or rather, Arthur got shot in the shoulder when we woke up, and I had retired instantly, begging him to do the same. He agreed. It left me surprised. I hadn't expected him to agree, I'd expected him to refuse and there to be a blazing row followed by some fantastic make up sex. He'd stated that he was in dreamsharing for the excitement, because he loved it. The novelty had worn off once we'd married and settled down together, because he had someone else to love, who provided enough excitement. I'd all but dragged him to bed after he'd told me that, refusing to let him up for the rest of the day.

We walked back to our home in LA. We still lived in the same house we'd moved into after the Fischer job. There were too many memories in the house for us to ever consider moving.

I stopped and gently pulled Arthur in for a chaste kiss on the lips. I pulled back and he smiled.

"What was that for?" He asked.

"My whole life with you, darling. Thirty five years we've been together." I marvelled. I'd never expected to settle down, although I'd always fully expected to marry someday. I don't think I'd ever had any realistic expectations for how long said marriage would last. But that was before I met Arthur.

He smiled at me. "And married for thirty. Any regrets?"

I shook my head. "None at all. You?"

"Not a thing." Arthur replied, and his eyes crinkled as he smiled. It was an endearing look. "Come on, Mr Eames, let's go home."

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**There you go people, that's their future.**

**A quick update on the domestic story. It will be called 'The Real Life' and I'm aiming to make each chapter a little longer than previous works. It will be written in the third person, and the first chapter will be on how they got together. I aim to have it up by the end of the week. As always, reviews are much appreciated. Thank you.**


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